


Sugary Metro Rush

by FlightInstructor



Category: DARLING In The FRANXX (Anime)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 07:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightInstructor/pseuds/FlightInstructor
Summary: Between Episode 11 and 12, a difficult battle against a Klaxxosaur goes wrong. In an attempt to escape, Zorome and Miku find themselves trapped into a place older than the Plantations they live in. Lost and desperate, they now must face their fears long unaccounted and take each other's hand in order to confront their dire future ahead, discovering a new, sweet side of themselves they didn't know about.





	Sugary Metro Rush

 

“You heard Hachi, guys! Our task is to slow down their advance, so don’t overextend! Everybody, let’s go!” Ichigo shouts in the communication screen to the right of Zorome.

“Yes, leader!” Respond in unison Strelitzia, Argentea, Genista and Chlorophytum with their respective Stamens. The squad launches forward in the vast, flat and scorching desert outside of the attacked Plantation 13 in a semicircle formation.

In front of them, several kilometers away, they spot a giant pulsating tower made of intricate blue and black spheres peaks past a small hill in the distance. Then, suddenly, a dense wave of black and blue small, tick-like Klaxxosaurs with round bodies and a single protruding dented mouth paints the hill. Perfectly balanced on six spider legs, they accelerate in a mad downslope dash.

“Wait a moment! Those are the magma-sucking types we encountered at the extractor mission!” Ikuno shouts at the whole team on comms, reminiscent of the first mission the team underwent and barely got out from, only thanks to the support of Strelitzia piloted by 02 and Mitsuru.

 “WHHAAAAAT?” Miku and Zorome shout in unison, grabbing the attention of the entire team in their display of extreme surprise. “Are they still alive??”

“I see. Maybe that tower is their nest.” Hachi guesses caressing his diamond-shaped chin, evaluating the situation in the command station back into the Plantation’s Stem. “Those numbers worry me. Squad 13, stop on your position and hold your ground. The Plantation is readying the Bulwark defence system to shell the horde in order to thin it out before contact.”

“Order received. Everyone, HALT!” Ichigo orders, so Argentea comes to a hovering halt with his other team members.

“Zero Two, let’s stay down for a moment. I’ve never seen this tactic being used.” Hiro asks wondering.

“Yes, Darling. I did, and it’s going to rock a bit!”

“A-Ah? R-Rock a bit?”

Hachi hesitates for a moment, then gives the order. “All batteries. Fire!”

In unison, the cannons of Plantation 13 go off in a single volley, sending up in the stark blue sky countless artillery shells. A swarm of white trails slowly form from the Plantation’s dome and travels in an arch past the team on the ground, slowly descending towards the horde rolling down the hill.

“Wooow…” Miku follows the trails in wonder.

As soon as the swarm of shells reaches the target, a bright flash scars the horizon.

“Aw! My eyes!” Miku averts Argentea’s gaze, shielding herself from the glare with her elbow. The others that were watching directly the explosion jerk away, taken by surprise. After the bright light, an enormous orange fireball made of countless red flowers of violent fire grows in height by the eye, with leafy sand whirlwinds replacing the black and blue hill. Looming from the ground zero, an expanding dome of solid air and sand approaches the squad’s position.

“Is this… the power of the Plantation…?” Goro dismayingly asks.

“That’s freaking cool!” Zorome’s jaw drop at the enraging fire in the far distance, just like watching fireworks going off for the first time.

“Shockwave in about 10 seconds! Steel yourself!” Ichigo yells. In less than that, the shockwave hits head-on the squad loudly banging onto their FranXX’s armor.

“AAHH! What the hell!! My ears hurt!” Miku squeals for the impact.

“Miku, are you OK?”

“Y-Yes! Save me your worries, blockhead!” She yells at Zorome.

Zorome silently grumbles some something akin to a protest and summons a window containing the aerial view of the hellish fire spectacle in the distance, showing a group of Klaxxosaurs escaping the flame flowers still covered in burning Magma fuel. Some of them melt and grind into a halt, others keep running frantically on their quick small legs despite their body still on fire.

Past the scorching air, the hill where the nest-tower was hiding behind is nowhere to be found: the explosive rounds levelled it down into several craters, now being filled back up by the Klaxxo swarm. Then, suddenly…

«BANG!»

Countless explosion go off at the same time on top of everyone’s head. Penetrator rounds fired from the Plantation zip above the group and their sonic booms maul the air at their passage. The rounds tear with a shallow angle on the horde of Klaxxosaurs like countless talons clawing seawater, sending flying crumples of torn-apart in thick light-blue liquid clouds scattering in all directions.

“AAAHHH‼” Miku shouts, recoiling from the loud cracks above Argentea.

“Oh, Papa! Hahaha!” Zorome jokingly yells while passing his finger in his ear cavity. “Rest in peace, my eardrums!”

“Aw-a-a…” Miku, instead, begs with a shuddering voice. “N-no more…”

“M-Miku…?”

«BANG!» Another volley passes above them.

“N-NO! STOP!”

«BANG!» Another one.

“STOP! STOP! STOPSTOPSTOP‼ AUGHH!” Miku screams like in pain, and Argentea arches forward to let go her gloves and cover where her ears would be.  Zorome’s mind is assaulted by sudden fear and anguish, and shivers are sent down his spine when he feels Miku’s mind going awry as the panoramic screen randomly flickers.

“Miku, what’s wrong? Get yourself together!” He calls to his partner to no avail. “Calm yourself! I’m here! Please! I’m here! Miku!”

At Zorome’s calling, Miku focuses on his voice and slowly steels herself. Slowly, her breathing returns regular and Argentea’s scared expression turns into one of shame. “I… Don’t know what happened… I felt…” Miku’s agitated voice tries to justify her sudden outburst.

“We’re in the clear now, people! Rounds fired!” Ichigo announces. “Strelitzia, charge!”

“Darling‼”

“Zero Two‼ We’re going in!”

Strelitzia’s back thrusters kick off with a long, red exhaust and takes off the ground towards the nest. She flies above the considerably thinned out advancing mass of Klaxxosaurs, aiming to destroy the nest’s core in a single pass.

The remaining squad closes to the mass of Klaxxos ready to engage. When in firing range, Genista and Chlorophytum start laying support fire for Delphinium and Argentea, who dash in for a charge into the enemy ranks. As soon as the two of them reach melee range, Delphinium charges in, cutting the horde down several ticks at a time with each swing of her twin piledrivers, carefully dodging around to avoid being overrun. Argentea does the same with her claws, but her movement are unusually sluggish and unfocused.

“Miku, if you don’t feel-”

“Shut up…!”

“Eh… but-”

In a split second, a tick Klaxxosaurs jumps and chows onto Argentea’s arm, dangling its body like a ball.

“AW! GET! OFF! ME!” Miku protests and scratches out the tick, only to dislodge its main body and leave the head still grappled into her arm. Zorome in a quick decision, kicks up Argentea’s feet thrusters and quickly backs from the rest of the ticks wanting a piece of the pink mech.

“Go to hell!” He shouts at the tick still gnawing on Argentea’s arm, but its head suddenly explodes.

“AAAAH!” Argentea’s arm is left with a hole where the head is embedded.

“I can’t move my arm‼ I can’t move my arm‼” Miku panics. “I-I…” Miku tries to move, but Argentea’s feet are paralyzed, trembling like a leaf. “H-Help…”

“We’ve HAVE to move!” Zorome, staring at the mass of ticks closing in, steels his mind and decides to try to achieve the unthinkable. He unbalances Argentea into falling back-first onto the sandy ground with an extremely squint-eyed face.

“You won’t get a piece of us!” As soon as they’re horizontal, Zorome engages the main thrusters on the back of Argentea!

“N-N-NONONONONO!” Miku exclaims having caught a glimpse of what he’s trying to do… But it’s too late. Argentea takes off horizontally, kicking off a cloud of sand while grinding on the terrain with her back, zipping far from the horde of ticks…

Or you wish they would, because Argentea embeds herself onto the sand head-first five hundred meters in the distance, with only her legs free bicycling in the air.

“What the HELL!” Zorome’s jaw drops.

“Zorome, you IDIOT!” Miku opens Argentea’s eyes and finds her head crashed into some kind of long, dark corridor. Miku has no time to think, as the horde of ticks surround her and pierce into her legs endlessly, under the helpless gaze of her companions that came for help.

“I’m stuck! I can’t move! It hurts! It hurts! IT-HURTS‼”

“MIKU!” Zorome shouts inside his cockpit in helplessness, unable to get Argentea out from the hole he smashed her into.

“I feel myself being drained…!” Miku exclaims giving in to panic, and her feebly voice resounds inside the cockpit. “Help…”

A moment of hesitation, in which Zorome looks past his controls at his partner trembling uncontrollably on her seat. Then, moved by panic, he leaves Miku’s controls to propel himself forward, grabs onto her back and, using all his strength and body weight, dislodges her from the Pistil seat. In a rush of adrenaline, he manages to tear her aside, falling beside the Pistil seat still hugged to her back. Lights and instrumentation go out, leaving the cockpit in darkness.

Miku’s visor disengages, and her bright pseudo-horns dissipate. A long moment passes, in which she regains her consciousness, then she starts trembling once again unaware of her surroundings and begins to weep softly.

“Miku…” Zorome tries to reach to her by words, but she takes his arms still grappled onto her to launch them away in a cringed, crying expression.

“D-Don’t touch me…! -Sniff-”

“I’m s-”

“SHUT UP!” She loudly yells, picking herself back up on her feet. “I’m fed with you… I’m… -sniff-”

Zorome gets himself sitting in silence as Miku walks to the cockpit entrance and yanks out by herself its emergency opening lever. She smashes her feet onto the door that opens unimpeded, under Zorome’s silent and incredibly regretful expression. Then, she goes towards the Stamen’s seat, but her heels make her lose footing, and she falls onto the Pistil’s seat.

“GODDAMIT‼” She yells like a hurt lioness, and taken by rage, she starts smashing her heels on the steel hull of the cockpit and tears out both her suit’s shoes, to then throw them outside the cockpit. She walks barefoot to a compartment below the Stamen’s seat, reaches for something inside and walks out with a teary and impenetrable expression.

“Mik-“ He retries to get to her.

“I-SAID-SHUT-UP! I’M FED WITH YOU!” She turns to him with rage.

“Wher-?”

“DON’T YOU DARE TO FOLLOW ME!” Zorome sacredly backs to the LCD screen behind him as Miku walks out through the cockpit’s door and slides down the door into the dark corridor. On the ground, she clicks open a flashlight and the bright light shines a very tall ceiling and two pairs of steel beams clamped down to the concrete floor. She starts to run barefoot to disappear into the darkness ahead.

“M-Miku! Don’t! We have to stay here!” But it’s too late. Miku’s flashlight dances farther and farther along the corridor. “Ahh! Be damned! She can go wherever she wants!” Zorome plops down arms and legs crossed on the cockpit’s floor, brooding.

Seconds pass as he keeps his pensive stare onto the pistil’s seat with frowned brows and lips trebling. Slowly, his frown mellows and turns into one of bashful regret. As his blinking eyes soften his stare, Zorome suddenly shakes his head and launches himself forward to get up standing.

“AAAAH! I got it, I got it. I can’t leave her alone like this! She’s gonna kill herself! That girl, honestly…”

He reaches for the compartment left open by Miku and extracts from it a medical kit and a black and orange glowing torch tube with a rubber inserts and a big on-off switch.

Zorome walks down the long dark corridor, careful to not step on all the rubble and cave-ins caused by Argentea smashing her head into it. The air feels extremely damp and mushy, like if the place didn’t see the light of the day for centuries. Past that mess, his bright torchlight gleams sharply onto the corridor’s walls, that seemed to continue forward in endless monotony. Zorome notices that the steel beams clamped on the floor looks like something very familiar…

“Are those… rails?”

Zorome continues for minutes walking down the wide corridor, jumping the concrete slabs orderly spaced out joining the rails together, only to find it splitting in two more corridors, one bending to the left and the other to the right.

“…And now? Left, or right?”

The poll is promptly answered by an echo of a sobbing girl.

“Miku…” He promptly dashes into the left turn, but as soon as he enters the bend, his flashlight lights up Miku’s torch lying on the ground, with a rivulet of orange liquid coming out from a large crack.

“MIKU!” He frantically screams launching forward, his flashlight dancing left and right to search for his FranXX partner - to find her crying a hundred meters later, sitting curled against the wall of a side crevice filled of large concrete pieces. “Here you are…”

“I told… you to not… follow-” She sobs while hiding her face.

“Shut up, you dumb, reckless...! Are you hurt?” Zorome broods.

“Y-yes…! I stepped on something sharp… and fell… my flashlight broke… It’s dark…!”

“Glad I brought this! Moron! Why did you even go out from Argentea? We had to wait for help!” Zorome opens the medical kit and notices her suit is torn open on the knee and blood is coming out from a bruised cut. He pulls out some disinfecting cotton drabs and cleans her wound while she softly squeals. A while later, after having patched her up with a gauze, she lets her thoughts free.

“I don’t want to return. -sniff- I don’t… want to be there anymore…”

“W-What…?” He looks directly in her eyes, scared of what he’s going to hear.

“It’s… It’s scary…! I… -sniff- H-How can everyone manage to… -sniff- fight like that… -sniff- I-It’s horrible… I don’t want to fight anymore… I’m… not made for that life…”

Zorome’s expression mellows, and his gaze falls to the ground.

“Wherever you’re going, I’m not leaving you, OK?” Zorome declares without a blink of an eye.

Miku is taken by surprise, blinking with her mouth open wide. “What about… the Adults?”

 

“I don’t care about those geezers… They can remain in their sarcophagi.”

“Eh…? Sarcophagi…?” Miku is surprised at Zorome’s words, but her question is left unanswered, as a loud rustling schreeches from the tunnel at their side.

“Who…?” Zorome looks towards the wall at his right, and a blue glow paints the gray concrete.

“Oh, no…” Zorome’s expression turns into unbridled fear as he freezes on the spot and his mouth comes slowly open, anticipating a terrible destiny at hand.

“Zorome…?” Miku examines his expression, and notices that Zorome is trembling head to toes.

“They’re here.” Zorome whispers with broken voice. He snaps out of his daze, and closes immediately the torch left open beside them, and in a desperate move, shuts Miku’s mouth and grabs her waist. With muffled protest noise from Miku, he tugs her into the ground trying to hide them both under the stacked concrete slabs lying on the floor, shielding her with his body.

With its short legs slowly ticking forward, the black and blue tick-like Klaxxosaur advances in the corridor. Searching for its prey, its big body’s blue light bathes the darkness and projects creeping black shadows at its passage. When its long, protruding mouth with countless sharp teeth passes in front of the crevice Zorome and Miku are tucked in, the girl lets out a panicky squeal, muffled by his hand.

The tick suddenly stops in front of the crevice for a couple of seconds, instinctively attracted by Miku’s fearful yelp. Finding nothing among the cement slabs, the Klaxxosaur keeps moving slowly towards where Argentea is embedded. When the tick’s blue glow disappears, Zorome releases his hand from Miku’s mouth and both sigh in relief, dispelling their fear.

“I… I’m sorry for earlier. Honest.” Zorome says so while turning back on the flashlight.

“…Ok. I forgive you.” Miku shoots her haughty and smiling face upwards in satisfaction and leans on the wall to help herself up. “Aw!” She shoots up her right feet in pain, grabbing it with the other hand.

“Did you cut yourself on the sole?” Zorome looks at her bare foot, looking for scratches. “C-Can I patch it up?”

“S-Sure.” A bit embarrassed, Miku plops down again sitting and raises to him her foot to his face. Zorome pulls himself on his knees and hesitates, then grabs her small and soft foot.

“W-where’s the cut…?” He blinks repeatedly, as his fingers pass on her smooth skin without callouses, on the space between her feet fingers, the bone of her heel dancing on his thumbs while he cleans it off to find the cut…

“D-don’t tickle me!” Miku protests.

But instead of searching for the cut, Zorome is unconsciously more engrossed in exploring Miku’s beautiful foot, thoroughly feeling it in his hands and cleaning it from the black dust she picked up while walking with her nude feet. The ecstatic feeling of her delicate skin on his fingertips, the density of her small bone structure and the cuteness of its shape and its well-formed nails made him wander his enraptured eyes and elated mind onto a dimension he never dared enter before. One of deep excitement.

“He-hey! What are you doing…?”

“H-Huh?” Zorome absent-mindedly returns her gaze with hypnotized eyes and an almost drooling mouth.

“AH! Y-YOU PERVERT!”

«THUD!»

Miku smashes her foot on Zorome’s face. He recoils backwards ending up lying on his back, but he doesn’t really protest. Instead, Zorome’s mind plays back and forth the slow-motion her foot colliding with his face, and his cheeks and ears fire up in a glowing red.

“Ahah-ahah-ah-ah-” He stutters like a broken record with a streak of drool coming out his mouth.

“Wh-!” Miku goes red on her own and squeezes herself against the wall. “What’s with this reaction…? Did I hit too hard?” Miku asks to a still bent backwards Zorome.

“It’s… Just a moment…” He responds while caressing his own face.

“What…? Well, whatever. That face needed punishment!” She gets up and collects the torch from the floor. At that statement, Zorome thinks that ‘punishment’ wasn’t the right word for what she just did, somewhat.

…

The corridor goes on and on for several hundreds of meters, so far that they have to make several pauses to let Miku’s feet rest.

“Why did I have to remove my shoes… OH WAIT! LIGHT!” Miku suddenly points towards the end of the tunnel, where a faint white glow on the walls could be seen past a bend.

“OH YES! Come on, let’s go! Hop on!” Zorome takes her by surprise, as he offers his back to her. Miku doesn’t hesitate and hops onto him piggyback style. Past the bend, the corridor enlarges and transforms into several white-tiled waiting platforms interspersed by columns, illuminated like day by bright lights.

“Wha…” Miku is speechless.

“COOL!” Zorome exclaims as he lets Miku down, runs to the platform on his left, jumps the rail past it and stops to admire the long, ruined ad posters that are still hanged on the side walls depicting images of people from a bygone era. “Look at these! This is way cooler than those in that village…!”

“Wow…” Miku passes beside the platforms, looking at the sorry state of that place - pulled out tiles, graffiti drawn over timetables, smashed TV screens toppled over... “This looks centuries old!”

Zorome, meanwhile, is looking at a big poster of an Asian supermodel displaying a beautiful diamond necklace with a small ruby pendant, with her perfect fair skin highlighted by the black background.

“What are you looking at?” Miku pouts.

“Ah- nothing!” Zorome then points to her an exit. “Look, this way! It goes up!”

Miku reaches to him, and both go up the halted steel escalator Zorome pointed at. At the top of the stairs they both find themselves in complete awe.

“Whoa! Look!” A gigantic underground two-story open space made as a shopping mall enters their view. Past a wide row of turnstiles and ticket vending machines, countless shops still full of abandoned stuff are still inexplicably lightened up by the ceiling lights, shining brightly on the shop’s showcase windows.

The air feels clean and only their footsteps can be heard. Strolling with their noses up in the air and their eyes dancing left and right, they find plundered tech shops, rusty food stands, ruined coffee shops, music vendors with albums and LPs scattered on the floor, vandalized perfume discounts, games and plushie stores. But most of it all, a very luxurious shoes and clothing boutique.

“Can I enter? Please‼” Miku’s eyes gleam while her face is affixed to the display window of the messy but still full high-ranking clothing store, with mannequins displaying the most expensive pieces available in very stylish poses, dotted by luxurious leather waiting sofas.

Zorome shrugs. “Sure, why not?”

“YAAAY!” Miku runs inside, throwing in the air her suit’s spinal exoskeleton, collar and side controls to launch herself among the rolling dress hangers under Zorome’s ironic stare.

“Seriously…” He smirks. He decides to stay outside, keeping watch outside the shop, still nervous about the Klaxxosaur roaming around. Suddenly, something shiny in a corner shop takes his attention.

“Hm?”

 

* * *

 

Back in the boutique, Miku is extremely busy at mixing and matching jeans, skirts, pullovers and shoes – making the most awkward combinations of colours, shapes and sizes. Devaluating her own attempts at a mirror embedded on a column, she pouts while losing her patience.

“Hmpf... This is hard!”

Suddenly, from behind, Zorome's laughing voice.

“What is that!” His voice exclaims exhilarated at his partner's inability.

Miku recoils blushing violently. “AAAAH?? S-Shut up! How dare you judging a girl’s way of dressing!”

“At least follow the mannequins' style!” Zorome’s teases her.

“Y-you do that, dummy!!” Miku waves her finger at him. “I-I bet you wouldn't even fit into those!”

“HUH?? I might not be as tall, but I bet I can dress better than them!” Zorome declares with superiority, taken by surprise by Miku’s claim.

“Hah! I'd bet you won’t even compare!” Miku grins mischievously.

“Uoooh! Ok then, I'm gonna show you what Zorome the Great can do!” He angrily points his finger on her.

“Hah! Sure! You do that, I'm going to overshadow the hell out of you!” She retorts with a haughty smile.

They both turn their back on each other, and they disappear on their respective sides of the boutique. Zorome starts observing the mannequins on the men’s side, and instantly gets raptured by one placed on a marble pedestal dressed in a jeans, white shirt with red short tie under a navy-blue double-breasted blazer, brown leather shoes and stylish leather spring gloves.

“L-like an… Adult…” His eyes are wide open, unable to blink.

«SCRAAAAACH!» A tearing sound followed by yelps, Zorome turns towards its direction.

“Uh…? Don’t’ tell me you are tearing off your jumpsuit!?” He asks stunned, and a woman’s shoe comes zipping over Zorome’s head. “WHOA!”

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT LOOKING THIS WAY‼”

“Are you stupid??” Zorome protests, taken aback.

“NO PEEKING‼”

“Y-YOU TOO!”

After changing, Zorome twirls in front of the mirror on his brown leather engraved Chelsea boots and inspects his slim blue denim jeans with shades of white bleaching, kept tight on his waist by a brown belt. Tucked inside of it, a slightly open collar white knit shirt, from where a slightly loose small red tie hangs. Then, he takes the perfect-fitting blue blazer and dons it with a flick of the arms, buttons it and strikes a dandy pose, smiling like an idiot.

“Good thing the tie came with instructions…” He admits, a bit ironic. “ARE YOU READY??”

“ABOUT TIME, ZOROME! Making girls wait, that’s how you go about it…?”

“Doooon’t worry, it takes time to be perfect!” He strides on towards the sound of Miku’s voice, his boots’ heels clapping daftly on the tiled pavement, licking his ahoge down. “Where are you?”

“Here, idiot.” Her voice could be heard from beside a column he was wandering close to. Zorome passes straight past the column’s wedge and his eyes freeze on the spot, his jaw slowly coming wide open.

In front of him, a hair-down Miku remains speechless at Zorome’s passage. She’s in a frilly red mermaid short dress with a small, black leather blazer left open over the dress and black high-heel boots worn over thick black stockings.

Both look in complete wonder at each’s other appearances for an eternity. Eventually, eyes meet and red, uncouth blushes blossom on their cheeks. Parting ways, their elated gazes keep dancing on their bodies like their eyes were magnetized.

“You’re beautiful.” Both say in unison.

In surprise, their blush deepens and their expressions mellow.

“Y-You’re… ah…” Miku fidgets and covers her smile, almost speechless. “…I never thought…”

“M-Me too…” Zorome passes happily his hands on his chest, then stumbles on his words. “AH! Wa-wa-wait a second! I’ve got something…”

He nervously gets back to the entrance, then returns with a small box in his hands.

“Ehm… could you turn and… close your eyes?”

“Eh??” Miku recoils in a not-so-trusting reaction. “W-Why turning? What do you have there…?”

“It’s a… surprise, OK? Just… don’t peek!”

Miku pouts a little, then gives in. “OK! Don’t… play pranks on me! I’m gonna kill you!”

“No way.” Zorome says in a mature voice.

Miku manages to blush even further. “O-Ok…” She closes her eyes with her hands.

“Turn…” Zorome takes by her shoulders and makes her face a mirror.

Miku hears the box opening and then something cold being placed on her neck.

“Z-Zorome‼ You promised!” She yells jumping up in surprise, about to open the eyes.

“NO, WAIT! I need a second!”

“A-Ah… You idiot…” She calms down trying to keep her eyes closed despite having the cold thing wrapping on her neck while her hair is being moved aside. After he fidgets with the back of the neck, he delicately removes her hand from her eyes.

On her neck, hanging above her cleavage, there’s a thin choker made of a single row of diamonds terminating on a heart-shaped ruby embedded on a small silver plate. Miku’s expression tinges in absolute panic.

“Now you’re even more beautiful. You win, Miku!”

A tear streaks on Miku’s cheeks as her face corrugates. Then, her feelings once again overflow from her chest as she trembles, trying to keep her sobbing hidden to no avail.

“Zo-ro-me… Ahww…”

She turns and abruptly plants her face on his chest, wrapping him in a full embrace.

“WAHAAAHAAAAA!” She cries in disarray, muffled by Zorome’s jacket. “Ahhhh…”

“Miku…!” Zorome embraces her by reflex, cuddling her shuddering back.

“Uhhhhh… Stupid… stupid… stupid…”

Miku stays in Zorome’s embrace for a while, then parts her head and looks to him, her nose mere centimetres from him. He blinks, feeling her soft chest against his, but his instincts tell him to lose his gaze in hers.

“I’m gonna pick the reward… OK?”

She inches forwards, and her lips softly touch Zorome’s in a passionate kiss. For the first time in their life, nothing mattered, except their lips slowly moving together, separating then plunging back together in an endless dance of pleasure. Then, the last push of lips before the separation.

“T-This is a kiss…” Zorome asks her whispering softly, his amethyst irises still reflecting into hers.

“Yup!” Miku smiles.

 

* * *

 

The sun is high in the sky, and the Klaxxosaur tower is now nowhere to be seen.

Miku and Zorome slowly climb the dug-out staircase leading to the surface, both still in their luxurious clothes.

“We’re out!” Zorome stops to the peak of the stairs and admires the view of the still scorching desert. “This is entrance used by the gigantic tick from before!”

“Finally! That was close!” Miku looks over the horizon to find the silhouette of Plantation 13 and two legs striped pink and white beside it, with giant cranes tugging it out from the sand. “Ahaha! Look! That’s Argentea!” She giggles.

“OH! Hahaha! Well, they’re not gonna get that out easily!” Zorome chuckles. After the moment of levity, he squares her eyes, asking with a bit of fear. “What now…?”

Miku’s gaze falls to the ground. In all response, she gets out her communicator from her jacket’s pocket and flicks it open.

“A-Are we going to return??” Zorome asks her surprised.

“Yes, you stupid! What else do you think we’re gonna do?” Miku cringes in pain in saying that. She hesitates, looking at the ‘call’ button on the holoscreen. Then she raises her eyes to Zorome.

“It’s true… I don’t like my life. And I HATE fighting. It hurts, it scares me… I sometimes wish to be another person… living another life. A life without the fighting, without the Klaxxosaurs, without the Adults…"

Miku smiles. "Today… even for an hour… I felt just that. Thanks to you, Zorome.”

“I know I can’t escape my life… it would be too good to be true. My home is there, regardless if I want it or not.” She fidgets with her boots, then she walks over to his partner.

“I also know that… some day in the future, my life will come to an end… regardless if I want it or not.” Miku’s eyes turn scared for a moment.

“But… if you’re with me…” She extends her hand and closes it into Zorome’s. “I’m not scared anymore.”

Zorome, from dead serous, gives a smile he never showed before to anyone, followed by a tear slowly making his way on his cheek. “S-Stupid…” He dries the tear with his sleeve.

“Will you be my partner… until the end?” Miku asks to him.

Zorome nods without hesitation. “I’ll be with you. Until the end.”

Their lips join once again in a sweet kiss.


End file.
